A small town (population 385 in the 2020 census) in northeast Iowa, and today’s morning name. I have never been to Spillville, but in my world it’s a famous place, and when the name came into my head on awakening, I knew exactly why: as I came to consciousness, my Apple Music had just been playing Dvořák’s String Quartet in F, Op. 96 (“American”), so of course Spillville came to mind; it’s almost as good a Spillville trigger as his Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“From the New World”).
I will explain. Meanwhile, let me recommend the Wikipedia article on Dvořák, for its detailed telling of a remarkable life, of great talent, a lot of pluck, a fair amount of luck, generous humanity, and the benefit of champions, advocates on your behalf (in this case, primarily Johannes Brahms).
Spillville. From the Wikipedia article (somewhat edited down):
Spillville is a city in Winneshiek County IA [AZ: in the northeast corner of the state, just south of Minnesota and a bit west of Wisconsin]. It is located in Calmar Township, approximately 4 mi west of Calmar and about 12 miles southwest of Decorah, the county seat. Spillville is known for its Independence Day fireworks display, held the first Saturday in July.
History: Spillville was platted by German Joseph Spielmann in 1860. Originally named Spielville after the founder, the community’s name was misread and became Spillville.
It was largely settled by Bohemian [AZ: which is to say, Czech], German and Swiss immigrants. [AZ: in Dvořák’s time, the town was mostly Czech-speaking]
Spillville boasts a strong cultural and musical history. The Czech composer Antonín Dvořák spent the summer of 1893 in Spillville, where his friend Josef Jan Kovařík had relatives. There he completed the monumental Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World”, as well as two of his most famous chamber works, the String Quartet in F (“The American”) and the String Quintet in E-flat. Spillville is also the site of the Inwood Ballroom, established in 1920 and the destination of several popular 20th-century musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo, and The Byrds. Many tourists to Spillville have also visited the Bily Clocks Museum, a collection of intricately designed clocks, created by two brothers named Bily and housed in the building where Dvořák lived during his stay.
The Roman Catholic parish in Spillville, St. Wenceslaus Church, was built in 1860 and is the oldest Czech Catholic church in the United States.
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